The Aether Series: Soul Ethic's
by Neko Gamer Soul
Summary: Humanity is at it's Apex. The most advance civilization of it's era endured almost 60 years of relative peace. Though as horrors from the past decades emerge, a lone man is exiled to one of humanities ancient media. Together with the unlikeliest of allies, he must face his demons, and uncover the truth of recent events that will change the world. Rated M for graphic violence


Aether

Soul Ethic's

Prologue

As Celestia _(Nicole Oliver) _stepped out from the portal from where she was led to by the strange bipedal creatures who mad an effort to reach her, she was greeted with a sight she had never seen before. Standing before her was a technological metropolis with its greatest landmark being the seemingly endless tower standing before her. The pure white polyester white tower stands unopposed in her center field of view. Judging by where she was standing from her elevated position, she could guess that they were approximately 20 miles away from the tower and yet the size suggests that she's 20 feet away from it.

"Quite an impressive feat there." She said to the two bipedal creatures in front of her, calling themselves "humans", escorting her to her destination. "I take it's a marvel of strength of your species combined efforts to create such a landmark."

Without looking back to Celestia, the human to her left responded. "Negative, your highness. It is the strength and will of one man who created the tower. By his will alone, he created the Infinite Tower and resides there." He quickly glanced back towards Celestia, his lower face covered with a balaclava and his eyes covered with the goggles from his helmet. "Your destination is at the top."

Taken aback from the response she looked at the human with bewilderment. "Surely you jest, you do not expect me to reach the top of something you deem to be 'Infinite' by conventional means?" Centering herself, she realized. "Or are you going to use the same technology to get me up there as well?"

"Affirmative" The human on her right replied. "We'll be using a special teleport that Soren has authorized for your usage alone." A holographic console appeared by the guard's left, and after fidgeting with it for a few seconds, another green circular tile in front of the three lit up. "Unfortunately, we cannot come with you. This portal is specialized for you and you alone."

Smiling slightly, Celestia walked pass both before stepping on the pad. "Your kindness is appreciated, but I'm not as fragile as I look. Though I am a princess, I will be able to handle myself to your ruler's dealings." With a deep breath, she stepped onto the teleporting pad once more; vision going pure white before she can feel her entire self being transported to another location.

Coming to, Celestia was surrounded by nothing but pure darkness. Once her vision corrected, she could see the small white lights of distance stars looming in the background of what seemed to be a black plane of nothingness. Taking a cautious step forward, the entire ground lit up with a faint purple light with the step of her hoof. Surprised by this, she took another step with her hindleg and see she received the same result. With a smile, she used her magic from her horn to create a faint light aura surrounding her, giving her a better view of her surroundings.

Immediately after she used her magic, a white hooded human was standing in front of her; his back facing away from Celestia as he looked like he was observing something far off into the distance. The act of Celestia using her magic had caught the attention of the human male, as his head and shoulders began to relax a little. "Everything is set into motion." The human said under his breath.

Confused but polite, Celestia spoke up. "I am Princess Celestia of Equestria. I have been summoned by your kind to answer a call of dire emergency."

"Indeed, you have." The human male replied slowly turning his body around to face Celestia, using both of his hands to remove the cowl covering his face. His human features are strong and angular with a square jawline to match his rugged but wise appearance. His slick back silver hair came down to the back of his pale skin neck. His most defining feature was that he lacked any form of pupils but instead have clear yellow iris's that made a shape of an upside down "Y". _(Mark Fischbach)_ "I am Soren, the current Overseer of mankind within the realm of Aether."

"So, I have come to assume." Celestia responded politely. Soren gestured Celestia to walk with him to further beyond the darkness. Hesitantly, Celestia walked next to the human and proceed along the darkness with him. Her horn lighting the way, she broke through the silence. "I want to know why your race has decided to contact me in your most dire of times. The message you sent to me is the strangest form of communication I have ever seen."

"Many assume your form of communication is strange as well," Soren responded in jest. "But it is the cultures that we have that are so different that we perceive each other as strange, even though my kind had a hand in your kin's creations." Celestia's shocked expression gave Soren a slight pause to look at her before continuing. "Do not fret, for your creators are long since been deceased."

"Yet claiming that your species created mine is still something I cannot believe without some evidence." Celestia retorted. "We have our own history and our own beliefs that we have developed."

Soren smiled slightly at Celestia's rebuttal as they both continued their walk. "Yes, you have molded yourselves well as you were written to do so before. However, the events that happened originally have altered from your Aether versions of yourselves. What was once a corporation's way of making money is now its own version and free will." Soren looked at Celestia "You are your own people know created by the old human's will."

Celestia sighed as she tried to comprehend what Soren was talking about. "I take it then you claim you have created many universes then?"

"Not our current form no," Soren replied. "But the Old Humans of Earth did. We are the Humans of Aether, they're ultimate form of sustaining human life forever in the form of an incorruptible digital space. Here in Aether, worrying about the outside forces of invasion, or the destruction of the universe is safe here."

"Interesting. I have a student of mine who would be interested of learning as much as she can from your people." Celestia looked forward into the eternal void. "Though it is quite depressing despite how grand you seemed to make it."

Soren stopped in his tracks, causing Celestia to stop and look back at him. His face to be sadden by her remark about the current state of humanity. "Yes well, events have unfolded that I thought were not possible."

Celestia felt a sense of guilt kicked in as she saw Soren talk like that. "I'm sorry for events that have happen. I know the feeling of having a heavy burden on your heart."

Soren lightened up a little from her kind words. "Yes well, your expertise is the reason why I had called you here." Soren walked a few feet away from Celestia as a small pillar sprang up from the ground. A light blue holographic display was in front of Soren's left hand as soon as he went to reach for the pillar. "I have caught wind of a certain group's are having power struggles currently. It is not my place to intervene in such a struggle, but I am a humble observer to these massacres."

"I wouldn't word it as 'humble' to something as violent as a massacre." Celestia interrupted.

"It is their choice to kill each other. Who am I to deny their struggle?" Soren replied bluntly. "However, that is not what concerns me." A few faces ranging from human to anthropomorphic animals, a few being what looked like Equestrian ponies, flared up onto a wide screen in front of Celestia and Soren. A few were grayed out compared to the colored ones. "Someone triggered events to unfold between two factions to cause a development of technology. Now people with strong body's and wills are being collected by different organizations."

Celestia looked closely at each of every picture, especially the ones that looked like her people. "I do not recognize these mares. They bare my species face, but they do not resemble anypony that I know of." Celestia glanced at what looked like a pony but with a skull and crossbones pattern on their forehead. "I take it these are all humans?"

"Correct." Soren replied. "Our people have adapted a new way of self-identification via persona's that we have molded into our own. Some chose to look like characters from other worlds. Others chose to be their own character and have more personal touches to them. I assure you, all but one of your kind was not harmed in our petty conflicts." Soren's focus redirected towards Celestia, who was looking down towards the floor. Her expression tells that she was lost in thought. "This isn't the first time you have met a human, isn't it?"

Celestia continued to look down towards the ground, pondering on how she should reply. "It is of no concern if this is my first meeting with a human or not." Celestia turned her head to face Soren. "My experience with another human is tied to that induvial alone. A single human doesn't taint the entire species."

Soren smiled at her response. "Well said. However, I'm sad to say that I'm not the best example for my species. You represent your species well." Soren went back to inputting commands into the holographic screen. "As I was saying, I was hoping you would do a favor for me. I have a specific human in mind that has potential to excel and quite possibly one of the most powerful users of Will I have ever seen."

Celestia looked back towards Soren, as the multiple faces of the humans slowly vanished. "I take it there's a twist to this favor of yours?"

"Yes." Soren hit a button to pull up a man with clear hair and his eyes were covered by hit. His complexion was pale white, with a hint of muscle around his collar bone. Celestia couldn't see the rest of his body from his profile shot. An outline of a human body appeared with the profile picture of the human male. "Though he has a strong will, recent events unfolded have appeared to severally shaken the boy. He can't harness it properly and is quite possibly a loose cannon. He's taking steps to train and be a better fighter with small increments of success."

Celestia stared at the boy's profile, as if remembered by something, but can't figure out what. "Is it possible to see this human for myself?"

Soren smiled, "Our timing can't be perfect, believe it or not. He is training right now in one of the many fighting arenas in our world."

"Show me." Celestia said as Soren quickly input some commands to change the screen in front of the two. The once relatively decent sized screen now stretched out to be a wide encompassing view; showing a pure white training area with a shirtless man in the center of the screen.

The young man's features were lean as if he didn't have any form of fat on his muscles. His clear hair was unkempt and unruly with his eyes covered by the bangs. His black stretch pants were dirty and scarred by what looked like battle scars. A count down can be heard from the screen as the man unsheathed a katana from his left hand to his right. Tossing the scabbard aside, he readied himself for a fight.

Suddenly, little robots with blasters for arms sprang up from the ground, shooting red lasers at the young man. Steeling himself, the young man dodged the first flurry of blaster fire by dodging to the right. Using his free hand to balance himself as he jumped across the floor, he turned his attention to the first two robots of twenty in front of him. With a quick slash, he cut down the two robots with abject haste.

The sword he wielded had another function, as a channeling force of white lightning was sparking out from the hilt of the three-foot blade. Acknowledging the energy built inside his blade, he transferred the energy into his left hand and extended his hand out towards another group of three robots and obliterated them with ease. A siren went off in the remaining fifteen robots, a signal that they've increased in intensity.

The young man leaped up into the air as ten of the robots mercilessly charged at him. With a grunt, the man slashed wildly around him, missing a few of his hits as he sliced three of the bots. The remaining bots fired a hot laser beam at the young man, and he let out a grunt in pain. Tightening his grip around his blade, he slashed at the other seven as they effortlessly dodged the attack; razor sharp blades jutting out of their box like arms as the slashed him, wounding the outside of his body with multiple cuts.

Eventually, all that was still active landed on the floor surrounding the young man. The remaining twelve bots surrounded the young man as his blood from his freshly made wounds dropped to the floor around him. Steeling himself, he readied his blade with a deep sigh; raising the blade up his right shoulder to prepare to defend.

At this point in time Celestia saw the screen zoom in onto the man and she finally noticed a small three-inch choker around the man's neck. It's black color eventually radiated a bright red aura around the neck, which soon enveloped the man entirely into a clear white aura. Three of the droids lunged directly at him, as he tilted his head towards their direction and flawlessly turned to parry all three of their sword attacks.

Once the bots have been parried, the man used the opportunity to push the bots off him and leave an opening to their metallic centers. With one quick slash, all three of the robots blew up in a fiery explosion. The remaining nine wailed out as the difficulty of the training increased. With a quick redirection of his right leg, the man began to ready his counterattack.

This time instead of a head on onslaught, five robots charged to close the circle around him in a ten-foot radius while three flew over head to fire the red-hot beams at him. Almost as if in shock, the man released an energy slash that he built up instantly from his sword. The white beam missed the three bots over head of him, as the three bots fired immediately. The man braced himself for the blows and tried using his weapon to block the blaster fire.

The mistake he made turned to be a costly one, as the five bots that encircled him immediately charged at him and stabbed him in non-vital areas around his body. Letting out a painful yell, the man gritted his teeth as he felt the needle like blades pierce his torso with two coming from his backside. Groaning in pain, a burst of white energy enveloped the man as he let out a battle cry that caused the very area around him to burst into flames. The scorch earth around him didn't have the once penetrating robot remains around him, or the three robots around him.

The man was panting as blood became to coat the floor around his body and the floor around him. Looking straight forward, the last bot remained in front of him; unmoving and unflinching as he lifted his sword straight at the droid. Once the blade was pointed toward his last foe, the mans legs caved and he collapsed on the floor. His consciousness fading as he was suffering from the wounds he had from the training session.

A loud buzzer range as a pair of humans with a stretcher rushed to the mans aid. Before Celestia could see what happened next, the monitor faded out and she saw nothing but the vast emptiness of space in front of her. "Pity." Soren spoke through the darkness. "To get so far and only to achieve failure at the last possible second."

Celestia looked down towards the ground; mind racing as she tried to process what she just saw a few moments ago. _That human looked like a feral beast attacking those machines._ She thought to herself. _If I let something like that into Equestria, I will be jeopardizing my entire species._ With new resolve she looked up towards Soren with a fierce determination in her eye. "I will not let an animal like that into my world, Soren." She spoke with authority. "I can't have something like that ruin my world for the sake of your world."

Soren's eyes sadden as if he didn't like the answer he was given. With a sigh, Soren leaned onto the pillar in front of him. His right hand covering his mouth and jaw as he a look of contemplation on his face. His eyes darting left and right in a small circle in front of him as his mind raced with thoughts. After a few moments, he stood up straight again and put his hands behind his back and looked at Celestia.

"I'm not sending him there for the benefit of the human race." Soren spoke with a lack of empathy in his voice. "Humanity has driven itself on this course of its self-destructive path. I am just the enabler for these people." Lifting his left hand, he closed his eyes. "However, I understand why you are worried about your people. Allow him to heal himself over the course of three years. The mental trauma he had will be soothed after he has matured in age. Once those three years are over, I'm sending him to your world." He opened his eyes, glaring at Celestia. "With or without your consent."

Celestia frowned as she turned her back towards Soren, trotting back the way she came. Her horn brightly shinning the way, as Soren faded back into the darkness. "Very well. In three years, I will accept this human into Equestria." Celestia agreed as she planned for events to come. She can feel as if Soren had a wicked grin from her response; shuttering her to her very core.

_It will be our job to bring this person's soul into the light._ Celestia thought as she returned to Equestria.


End file.
